Casting process



Sept. 30, 1969 G. c. WARD ETAL 3,469,620

CASTING PROCESS Filed April 19. 1967 (x/55m? F 7000 041: 2 29 4mm 04,1051 5 60/5,?

i jmjm wi /Wine I United States Eatent Ofice 3,469,620 Patented Sept. 30, 1969 US. Cl. 16470 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Continuous casting process including the casting of a copper-base molten metal in a casting wheel to obtain a cast metal bar for hot-forming in a hot-forming means and the removing of fin or flash material from the cast metal bar as the cast metal bar passes between the casting wheel and the hot-forming means and while the temperature of the cast metal bar is still within the hot working temperature range of the cast metal so as to provide a cast metal bar having a crystalline grain structure which is substantially unaltered by the removing of the fin and flash material.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Field of invention Prior art The removal of surface defects such as fin or flash material from cast metal is well known in the metal foundry art. However, in the prior art, the removal of fin or flash material has usually been performed as an operation separate from the casting process and after the cast metal has cooled to ambient temperature. As a result, the prior art has required the use of a flame or some type of heating apparatus to melt the metal and remove the fin or flash material, or has required the grinding away of this material, using an abrasive. The problem with this prior art is that whether a flame or an abrasive has been used, the crystalline grain structure of the cast metal has usually been deformed in that portion of the cast metal from which the fin or flash material has been removed. The deformation of the crystalline grain structure of the cast metal causes the cast metal not to possess the metallurgical characteristics that are desirable when the cast metal is subsequently worked or formed.

INVENTIVE CONCEPT The invention disclosed herein overcomes this and other problems associated with the prior art removing of fin or flash material by providing a casting process in which molten metal is cast in a casting means to obtain cast metal and fin or flash material is removed from the cast metal while the temperature of the cast metal is still within the hot working temperature range of the cast metal. Since the cast metal is within the hot working temperature range of the cast metal when the fin or flash material is removed, the slight deformations in crystalline grain structure that are produced as a result of the removing of fin or flash material re-crystallize into an unstressed crystalline form so that the stress within the crystalline grain structure of the cast metal is substantially unchanged by the removing of fin or flash material. Therefore, the cast metal displays desirable metallurgical characteristics when the cast metal is subsequently worked or formed. Moreover, by removing fin or flash material from the cast metal while the cast metal is in the hot working temperature range of the cast metal, less power is required so that scrapers may be employed rather than the conventional apparatus normally used for such a purpose.

The method of the invention generally comprises the casting of a molten metal to obtain a cast metal and the removing of the fin or flash material from the edges of the cast metal before substantially cooling of the cast metal has occurred so that the cast metal is still within the hot working temperature range of the cast metal.

The apparatus disclosed for practicing the method of the invention comprises generally a casting machine and a pair of scraper blades fixedly mounted in a pair of support arms extending from a frame, the support arms being selectively adustable to change the location of the scraper blades and align them with the edges of the cast metal from which the fin or flash material is desired to be removed. The adjustment is accomplished using a pair of parallel guide members which slidably carry the support arms and a means for selectively moving the support arms along these guide members to adjustably position them.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will become more clearly understood upon consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawing wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout, and in which:

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of apparatus for practicing the invention and which includes a continuous casting machine and a rolling mill arranged with a material removal device;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the material removal device shown in FIG. 1 showing cast metal having the flash or fin material removed from the edges thereof; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cutter blade used in the material removal device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

These figures and the following detailed description disclose a specific embodiment of the invention, however, the invention is not limited thereto since it may be embodied in other forms.

ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that the apparatus of the invention includes a fin or flash material removal device 10 positioned between a continuous casting machine C and a continuous rolling mill R. Both the continuous casting machine C and the rolling mill R may be of conventional construction and design well known in the art.

One such design for a casting machine C utilizes a casting wheel A having a peripheral groove B there- 'around. A portion of the peripheral groove B is closed by an endless band D carried by support wheels W to form a mold X into which molten metal is poured to be solidified into cast metal I and discharged therefrom. Such a design is disclosed by US. Patent No. 3,279,000.

The rolling mill R is positioned relative to the casting machine C for the cast metal I discharged from the casting machine C to pass directly to the rolling mill R. The rolling mill R, being of conventional design, includes a plurality of roll stands Y which receive the metal I and progressively reduce the cross-sectional area thereof.

The material removal device 10 generally comprises a. frame 11 carried by a support 12. The frame 11 comprises generally a pair of parallel upright standards 14, 14 spaced apart and extending upwardly from the edges of support base 12. Mounted between the upper ends of the upright standards 14, 14' are a pair of horizontally extending, spaced, parallel guide rods 15, 15'. The guide rods 15, 15' slidably carry a pair of vertically depending support arms 16, 16' which are movable toward and away from each other by an adjustment mechanism 18.

The adjustment mechanism 18 comprises a pair of shafts 19, 19, rotatably received, respectively, through the upright standards 14, 14' yet axially fixed thereby. The shafts 19, 19 are threaded at their ends extending between the guide rods 15, 15 for engagement with appropriately threaded apertures A through each of the vertical support arms 16, 16 so that rotation of the shafts 19, 19' results in correspondingly moving the vertically depending support arms 16, 16' back and forth along the guide rods 15, 15'. Appropriate handles 20, 20' are provided at the outer extending ends of the shafts 19, 19', respectively, so that they may be rotated to selectively position the vertically extending support arms 16, 16 along the guide rods 15, 15'.

A material removal assembly F, F is carried at the lower extending end of each of the vertical support arms 16, 16 and generally comprises a scraper blade 21, 21 flxedly attached to the lower end of vertical support arms 16, 16, respectively, by a lock plate 23, 23 attached to the support arms 16, 16' by bolts 24, 24'. Slots 25, 25 in the scraper blades 21, 21, as seen in blade 21 in FIG. 3, provide for the vertical adjustment of the scraper blades, 21, 21' with respect to the cast metal being processed.

A cutting portion 26, 26' is provided on the inside edge of the scraper blades 21, 21 for engagement with the edges of the cast metal I as seen in FIG. 2 to remove the fin or flash material from the cast metal I as it passes between the scraper blades 21, 21'. The particular configuration of the cutting portions 26, 26 may be any of a plurality of shapes such as arcuate or angular depending on the particular shape of the cast metal I but should be suflicient to engage the entire area from which the fin or flash material is sought to be removed.

A guide roll G, G may be placed in front and in back of the flash removal assemblies F for maintaining alignment of the cast metal I as the fin or flash material is being removed therefrom. Each guide roll G is appropriately grooved as at 30 for receipt of the cast metal I therein and is rotatably carried by supports S extending upwardly from the support base 12.

Moreover, a second material removal device 10 identical to the material removal device 16 may be positioned between the material removal device 10 and the rolling mill R to provide a spare in the event the material removal device 10 requires repair or adjustment. When not replacing the material removal device 10 for the removing of fin or flash material, the second material removal device 10' may be used to smooth the surface resulting from the material removal device 10 to insure that the cast metal I entering the mill R is smooth and completely free of sharp edges and other flaws.

OPERATION In operation it will be seen that the scraper blades 21, 21 are positioned against the support arms 16, 16' by the locking plates 23, 23 and bolts 24, 24' so that the vertical position of the cutitng portions 26, 26 of the scraper blades 21, 21 are aligned with the upper edges of the cast metal I at which fin or flash material occurs. The handles 20, 21' are then rotated until the vertically extending support arms 16, 16' properly locate the cutting portions to engage the edges of the cast metal I as it passes thereby. This is accomplished by first positioning a pattern of the cast metal I on the rolls R and then adjusting the flash material removal assemblies F, F.

The casting machine C is then started; and, as the continuously cast metal I is discharged therefrom, it is directed between the removal assemblies F, F and into the rolling mill R so that the cast metal 1 is continuously east and rolled and the fin or flash material is continuously removed from the edges of the cast meal I as it passes directly between the casing machine C and the rolling mill R. It will be understood that by locating the fin or flash material removal device 10 immediately adjacent the continuous casting machine C and prior to the rolling mill R, the temperature of the continuously cast metal I remains within the hot working temperature range during the removal of the fin or flash material from the edges of the cast metal I.

It will also be understood that the invention has been disclosed herein in terms of a cast metal continuously cast by a casting means such as the casting machine C and subsequently passed directly to a hot forming means such as the rolling mill R because the invention is particularly well adapted to being the casting process in an overall process of producing a hot-formed product directly from molten metal. However, the invention provides an improved cast metal regardless of the casting means used and the arrangement of the casting means with other apparatus such as the rolling mill R.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been disclosed herein, it is understood that the inventive concept may be embodied in other forms without departing from the scope thereof as set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed as invention is:

1. In a casting process for casting a molten copper-base metal, the steps of (a) casting a molten copper-base metal in a mold formed by a peripheral groove in a rotating casting wheel and by a band which closes a length of said groove to obtain a cast metal bar having edges formed in said mold where said band engages said casting wheel;

(b) removing said cast metal bar from said mold while said cast metal bar is still at a temperature within a hot-working temperature range of said cast metal bar;

(c) passing said cast metal bar from said mold to a hot-forming means while said cast metal bar is still at a temperature within a hot-working temperature range of said cast metal bar; and,

(d) hot-forming said cast metal bar in said hotforming means as said cast metal bar passes to said hot-forming means;

(c) said process being further characterized by the forming of fins or flash material at said edges during casting as said molten copper-base metal passes between said band and said casting wheel and by the cutting of said fins or flash material from said edges with a cutting means that engages said cast metal bar only at and immediately adjacent said edges as said cast metal bar passes from said mold to said hot-forming means at a temperature which is within a hot-working temperature range of said cast metal bar and at which deformations of the crystalline grain structure of said cast metal bar recrystallize into unstressed crystalline form.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,869,432 1/1959 Sedlaczek et a1. 29-526.4 X 3,024,528 3/ 1962 Kielar 29-5264 3,167,857 2/1965 Saito et a1. 29--474.1 3,257,835 6/1966 Cofer et al 29528 3,320,666 5/1967 Dion 294-73.3 3,331,123 7/1967 Cofer 29-529 X FOREIGN PATENTS 229,503 2/ 1963 Austria.

PAUL M. COHEN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

